This invention relates to a harness protector which is mounted on a required portion of a wire harness (installed, for example, along a vehicle body panel) so as to prevent the wire harness from damage due to external interference and so on and a method for producing the harness protector.
FIGS. 7 and 8 show examples of related harness protectors of this kind, respectively (for example, JP-UM-A-63-198324 (Pages 3 to 6, FIG. 1) and JP-A-3-34280 (Pages 2 to 4, FIG. 1)).
The first related example, shown in FIG. 7, is designed to prevent a wire harness from being lifted or projecting from a protector body 41. Lock portions 47 are formed respectively on partition walls 46 formed upright on a base wall 42 of the protector body 41, and openable/closable wire holder members 49 are provided at side walls 43a and 43b of the protector body 41, and are disposed in corresponding relation to their mating partition walls 46, each of the wire holder members 49 having retaining holes 50 for retaining engagement respectively with the corresponding lock portions 47.
The harness protector 40 includes the protector body 41 of a U-shaped cross-section for mounting on the wire harness, and a protector cover (not shown) which is separate from the protector body 41. The protector body 41 includes the base wall 42, and the opposite side (outer) walls 43a and 43b, and this protector body is formed into a three-dimensionally curved configuration. The partition walls 46 are formed upright on the base wall 42 of the protector body 41. The partition walls 46 are upstanding in substantially parallel relation to the two outer walls 43a and 43b, and divide the transverse cross-section of the protector body into a plurality of spaces 48.
The lock portions 47 are formed respectively at distal ends of the partition walls 46, and can be engaged respectively in the retaining holes 50 formed in the wire holder portions 49. Each wire holder portion 49 is connected at one end to the side wall 43a of the protector body 41 through a hinge 51, and the other end thereof can be retainingly engaged with the side wall 43b of the protector body 41 by retaining means. The protector cover is formed into a shape corresponding to the shape of an open side of the protector body 41, and can be locked to the side walls 43a and 43b of the protector body 41 by retaining means.
A condition in which the protector 40 is used will be described. The wire harness is divided into constituent wires, and these wires are passed respectively through the spaces separated from each other by the partition walls 46 of the protector body 41. Thanks to the provision of the partition walls 46, the wire harness is passed uniformly through the interior of the protector body 41, and therefore will not be laterally localized at one region. After the passage of the wire harness, the wire holder members 49 are engaged with the lock portions 47 formed respectively at the distal ends of the partition walls 46, so that the wire harness is fixed so as not to project from the interior of the protector body 41 to the exterior. Finally, the open side of the protector body 41 is closed by the protector cover.
The second related example, shown in FIG. 8, provides the blow-molded harness protector 60 which enhances the efficiency of a wire harness-inserting operation, and prevents a wire harness of a large diameter from damage, and besides has a small number of component parts, and therefore is excellent in economy. A wire harness-inserting slit 62 is formed through one side wall 61, and holes 63 for the insertion of a wire harness-inserting jig therethrough are formed through that side wall facing the slit 62.
The harness protector 60 is made of a synthetic resin such as polyethylene and polypropylene. The slit 62 is formed through the side wall, and extends longitudinally over the entire length thereof. The side wall 61 of the harness protector 60 is thin, and therefore has flexibility. Therefore, when the slit 62 is expanded, the wire harness can be inserted therethrough. When the wire harness is thus inserted, the slit 62 is closed because of an elastic restoring force of the side wall 61, so that the wire harness is prevented from withdrawal from the harness protector 60, thereby protecting the wire harness from external interference and so on.
The holes 63 are formed through the wall by simple technique such as punching or a heating iron. The wire harness-inserting jig is inserted through the hole 63, and a rod-like portion, formed at a distal end of the jig, is engaged in the slit 62, and expands the slit 62 wide open. After the wire harness is inserted through the widened slit, the jig is removed, so that the slit 62 is closed.
However, the above first and second related harness protectors 40 and 60 have the following problems to be solved.
The first related example is the injection-molded harness protector 40 of a curved structure, and the wire holder members 49 are formed at the side wall 43a so as to fix the wire harness. The cost for a mold was high, and the facilities increased, and therefore there was encountered a problem that the length of the harness protector 40 could not be easily changed.
In the second example, only the molded product of a simple shape with a uniform cross-section could be obtained, and there was encountered a problem that any wall for preventing the fluttering and movement of the wire harness within the harness protector 60, as well as any mounting bracket for fixing to a vehicle body could not be formed by molding. Namely, a wire fixing structure and a protector mounting structure could not be incorporated in the harness protector 60, which invited a problem that that portion of the wire harness, required to be protected, could not be properly protected.
And besides, the harness protector 60 is cut from a blow-molded product extending long in the longitudinal direction, and a sharp edge is formed at a cut portion, and also burrs are formed at the cut portion. Therefore, there was a fear that the wire rubbed against the sharp edge or the like to be damaged, so that the reliability of electrical connection could be adversely affected.
Blow molding is a molding method in which a molten resin, is extruded into a tubular shape, and is held in a mold, and the air is blown inside the extruded resin, and then the resin is cooled and solidified. Therefore, similarly with an extrusion method, the molded product could not be formed into a complicated two- or three-dimensionally curved shape, and there was encountered a problem that the molded product could not effectively protect a curved wire harness installed along a vehicle body panel or the like.